This multiple-year conference grant application (R13) seeks NHLBI support towards the establishment of an annual symposium sponsored by the American Heart Association's Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences, the world's leading organization of cardiovascular scientists. An evolution of more sporadic meetings held in Asilomar, Snowbird, and Seattle, this annual conference would further the scientific mission to understand normal and abnormal cardiovascular biology in seamless continuity from molecules, cells, and tissues to organs, organ systems, and organisms. In the current so-called "post-genomic" era, with the human genome sequencing complete, an intensely shared focus for much of our audience is linking genes to function in the cardiovascular system. By intent, we have superceded the alternating themes of "heart failure" and "infarction" used in prior years, with a much more integrated and broadly based scientific focus on functional genomics. For 2004, the unifying scientific theme of this conference will be the genome-wide response to stress in the cardiovascular system, a topic of especially current appeal. National strategic goals in heart disease cannot be met with off-the-shelf drugs, devices, and life-style modifications alone. Major therapeutic challenges include salvaging myocardium in acute ischemic heart disease and in congestive heart failure by inhibiting cardiac muscle cell death, by promoting cell survival signals, and by supplying or activating stem cells as a means to achieve myocardial repair. The potential utility of adult stem cells for these purpose exceeds even the most optimistic projections of a few years ago, and is reflected by the number of clinical trials already underway worldwide. The 1st Annual Symposium will be held July 14-18, 2004, in Stevenson, Washington, and was organized by Drs. Michael Schneider, Ivor Benjamin, Issei Komuro, and Stefanie Dimmeler. Dr. Schneider serves as the PI for this landmark conference grant proposal.